The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League

by Jeff Hobbs

ASIDE FROM A few failed attempts to strike out on her own, Jackie Peace had lived on Chapman Street in Orange, New Jersey, since 1960, when she was eleven.

The first time I visited Jackie Peace to discuss telling her late son's story in some form was the weekend after Thanksgiving in 2011. We sat in the parlor of her home, and she was gracious and kind. At the time, we were talking about the idea of writing a few anecdotes for Rob's high school newsletter or something like that. I tried to be honest about the fact that I didn't know what I was doing journalistically (I didn't), that even talking gently about her son's life would be really painful (it was), that it would be hard to publish such a sad, hard story about a non-famous person in any more widespread way (it was), and my own whiteness would likely be uncomfortable for some people in his orbit (she laughed and said, "I'm sitting right across from you in my house; I can see that you're white.") In the end, she was moved that people still cared about her son, and she supported the idea of writing something. What I anticipated would be about two weeks of time spent talking to eight or ten people and writing 1,000 words turned into over three years, nearly one hundred people, and around 1,600 typed, single-spaced interview transcripts (though I did not record interviews with Jackie). I think of this book as a eulogy that got way out of hand. For more general info about the book, Rob's scholarship fund, and my next book entitled Show Them You're Good, visit: www.lifeofrobertpeace.com